Disclaimer is in Chapter 1.

Chapter 12

"I did not go into the utility closet with her!"

The team stopped as they approached the conference room assigned to them. Tony's voice was loudly protesting.

Female laughter trickled out as well.

"If you say so…but I was told that you and Agent Johnson…" Rebecca was heard to explain.

"Remind me to throw Ducky into a utility closet when we get back and that will prove to him that two people can't fit into one." Tony growled.

"Ah hah! So you tried!" Rebecca's voice was triumphant.

"Maybe." Tony admitted. "But it didn't work, so we didn't. Ducky's wrong."

"Have you two fixed everything?" Gibbs asked as the team entered the room.

"Yeah. Simple misunderstanding, right DiNozzo?" Rebecca offered.

"Yup. All cleared up." Tony agreed.

Gibbs watched the two of them carefully. He wanted to make sure that it was cleared up…but not too well. The last thing he needed was to explain to Ducky how Rebecca and DiNozzo had had some form of non-platonic relationship...worse yet, Rebecca becoming a notch on DiNozzo's belt. He shuddered.

"Okay, grab a seat…and we're going to start with the team-building exercises." Rebecca announced, all business suddenly.

"First off…why are you here?" She asked.

Silence.

"Okay…try this…secondly, why are you here?" Rebecca asked.

"To work on working together as a team?" Tim asked.

"Bingo." Rebecca gave McGee a thumbs-up. "Now why do you need to work on this?"

Silence.

"Kate." Ziva said softly. "And Ari."

Rebecca nodded. "I don't profess to know all the details. But I know that those two people meant a lot to each of you in one way or another."

Gibbs stared at Rebecca coldly.

"But this is a new team…new dynamics. And you're going to have to find new ways of listening to each other…and understanding each other. That's why you're here."

"So, first exercise." Rebecca started. "In front of you is a piece of paper of paper and an envelope. On the paper, I want you write down five characteristics that the rest of the team already knows about you. On the envelope, I want you to write down five characteristics that the team doesn't know about you. When you're done those – in whichever order you prefer – place the paper in the envelope and seal it."

It took the team 15 minutes to finish writing. Rebecca noted with concern that they all struggled with the paper portion…writing down traits that the team already knew about them. That was not a good sign for a successful team.

She collected the envelopes and numbered them. Then, she flipped over and shuffled them.

"Okay, next part. I'm going to read the 5 traits on the outside of the envelope…the traits that you don't know…and you're going to guess who it is."

"What is this supposed to do?" Ziva asked.

"It's to help you get to know each other…at least on a superficial level….but it's a start." Rebecca started. "Once you think you've got the right envelope in front of the right person, you're going to open the envelopes up and read the papers…see if you know each other as well as you think."

McGee groaned…he didn't want Tony to know these things. The young agent suddenly saw his future full of teasing.

"Oh, before I forget, things discussed in this room, don't leave this room." Rebecca said. "No blackmailing…Tony?"

"Hey…" He protested.

Gibbs slapped the back of Tony's head.

"Got it, boss. No blackmailing."

"Okay…first one…." Rebecca's eyes widened slightly. "Ummm…it says 'I actually have had sex.'"

"Probie!" Tony crowed. "Gotta be."

Tim glared at Tony.

Gibbs bit back a laugh. He did feel sorry for McGee, but he really couldn't believe the young man wrote that. Talk about issues.

Gibbs suddenly realized that the group really had issues. They all did. Kate's death. Ari's death. Ziva joining. Tony's set-up. Abby's stalking.

"Why don't you read the rest of that, Rebecca, before we decide?" Gibbs suggested softly.

"Yes, please." Ziva encouraged. "After all, maybe Gibbs' divorces came about because he refused to have sex with his wives? I was thinking he is an emu."

"Eunuch, Ziva." Tony rolled his eyes. "I think you mean eunuch…and Gibbs has had sex. Right, boss?"

Gibbs shrugged.

Tim breathed a sigh of relief, the focus off of him for the moment.

"Hey, wait a moment." Tony stopped the conversation suddenly. "Rebecca…where's your envelope?"

"Pardon me?" Came the stunned response.

"Your envelope. You're part of this team."

"He's got a point." Gibbs conceded.

Rebecca paused and grabbed a piece of paper and an envelope.

For the remainder of the hour, the team debated on who belonged to each envelope, even attempting to throw the others off of the envelopes belonging to them. In the end, they had figured out who belonged to which one…it required some heated debates, and some rearranging of previously determined envelopes, but in the end, they were laughing and had just a bit more knowledge about each other.

The team broke at lunch, assigned with their next exercise. It was a scavenger hunt. Gibbs rolled his eyes at the juvenile task but realized that it was perhaps not as juvenile as he first thought when he saw the items.

Hotel manifest – room assignments – spa bookings – dinner table partners…items that would help them figure out what their colonel was up to.

He was paired up with DiNozzo and noticed that Tony looked a little uncomfortable with the idea.

"What's wrong, DiNozzo?" He approached the younger man from behind. Tony ducked slightly.

"Relax, I'm not going to slap you without reason." Gibbs frowned slightly. Was Tony that well conditioned to expecting the slap.

"Uh, sure…I was just covering up a sneeze." Tony lied.

Rebecca watched the interaction with interest.

"Come on…let's grab lunch and then we'll start on this."

"Remember, you have until 1800 to get these back to me. Successful team wins a prize."

"It'll be a short lunch, DiNozzo…eat quickly."

"Sure boss."

The group made their way to the lunchroom.

Rebecca watched the two teams separate for lunch. They sat close to each other but far enough way to keep their strategies to themselves. She stood at the buffet table, watching as Ziva and McGee talked and planned out their route.

Unfortunately, Tony and Gibbs remained relatively silent. That worried her.

Fortunately, if they were successful at finding the items, they'd have a good starting point to find out what had happened to Colonel Essex during his stay at White Wolf and who he was with.

Hopefully the relationship between the two agents would be stronger then.